Moving to Suffolk..desperately need help please,,,

[mrsblueskys]

We are moving to Suffolk this summer, need to be within 1/2 hour drive of BSE for college, any ideas of where to avoid and where is good? Currently we live in the north east, this is a big move for us and i really would appreciated any help from anyone who knows the area.

There was a long thread on this about 2 months ago - if you have a search, you should find it.

Thanks Grendels will try and find it

We are in Newmarket (15mins) and it is quite cheap (house prices) in areas, and although it is a small town it does have most of what you need. It is 15mins from Cambridge too

Have been to Newmarket a couple of times and i do really like it, but how long will it take to get to BSE, my dc will be going to college there? We dont really want to be in a big town,were hoping for somewhere a bit rural, although not too isolated, sorry lol sounds like i want everything ha. We will be renting to begin with i think.

sorry alice, just realised you said 15 mins, its closer than i thought

I'm not sure what sort of budget you have/size of house you need, but i think it is an average sort of place price wise, bit of everything iyswim?

Red lodge is very good value atm for buying, as it is still being developed. Close to Bury too

Idealy we would like to rent at least 4 bedrooms and preferably with a bit of outside space and some outbuildings, have heard of red lodge but not actually been through it. Dont think we want to be to close to lakenheath or mildenhall, havent heard very good things about them?

Needham Market is very nice (about a 25 minute drive to BSE)

Do you want town or village?

Don't move to Newmarket - it is a dump (sorry Alice). Only thing going for it is that property is v. cheap.
Depressing shops, terrible traffic, lots of trouble on Friday/Saturday nights due to the ridiculous number of night clubs on the high street.
Too much money flashed about, and big cars driven, by racing folk, contrasting with large numbers of people on very low incomes indeed. Not much middle ground.

However, there are lots of pretty villages in the area between Newmarket and Bury: Moulton, Gazeley, Lidgate. Nice houses tend to be a bit pricey though.

roffling at description on Newmarket, the only thing I can't agree with is the traffic - but compared to Cambridge anywhere would be bliss traffic wise.

I never said Newmarket was lovely, said it was convenient and cheap!

You could probably rent somewhere quite cheap temporarily though.

oh, by the way, i live in the posh part of town

Red Lodge is equally grim, I would rather buy a smaller house than live there, a cardboard box would be preferable

If you're moving from the North-East, I'm not sure I'd worry too much about being somewhere rural, if I were you. The scenery in East Anglia is incredibly dull.

Frankly, you may not have a huge amount of choice finding somewhere with 4 beds to rent, so us giving you ideas for nice places may not work. How about finding some places, linking to them, and then we can tell you the pros and cons?

The scenery in the sort of triangle between Newmarket and Bury is not too bad actually. Sort of gently rolling with trees n' stuff. Not flat like the fens.

Of course south of Bury it gets very pretty with places like Lavenham, but that might be too far away for OP.

Agree that Newmarket traffic is not as bad as Cambridge. Mostly I'm thinking of the stupid gridlock trying to get out of the Rookery car-park at rush hour, or on race days, or when they decide to close the A14 and redirect the traffic through Newmarket.

We're north of Stowmarket (not a great town either) but in quite a nice village and it takes between 20-30 mins to Bury, depending on which part you're going to.

There are some pretty villages round here - though some may be a bit quiet for you. Ours has a school, post office, shop, garage and doctors so it's not isolated but not the centre of the universe either.

I'd second Needham Market as a potential place to start off.

Thanks for all your suggestions, its nice to hear from people actually there, where we live now is heavily industrial and we are looking for a village a bit more rural. Got to say that i find the fens highly depressing to look at and drive round but we have driven round a bit south of BSE and that seemed quite nice. We're not used to flat, the landscape here is quite hilly lol. The dc will be going to west suffolk college, but i do like the idea of a village with a shop and pub, think i've got my rose coloured glasses on though ha.

Woolpit?

I guess until i know exactly where to look, what may be useful is people's opinions of where to avoid! i have 3 teenagers, 1 will be away at uni most of the time but the other 2 will need to rely on public transport a lot i think?

is anyone familiar with walsham le willows?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK - (sorry frogetyfrog) NO NO NO NO - NOT WOOLPIT NOT WOOLPIT NOT WOOLPIT!!!!!

But...

Walsham le Willows is simply and completely beautiful!

Have you looked around Haughley? I find it a lovely bakery village!

Elmswell is a bit boring...

Have you considered actually living in Bury? It is a very idyllic little town. Lots of pretty and old houses with walled gardens and charm a plenty!?!

Mendlesham is nice too. It strikes me as a village with a true community spirit. Cotton is nice too... I have often daydreamed about living on Dandy Corner!

I go to BSE college...will I see you there?

I live in a village just outside of haverhill if that is any help. Takes me about 25 minutes to get to Bury.

Wickhambrook, Kedington are near me and nice villages both have a shop and probably a pub!

What on earth is wrong with Woolpit?